We recently lost our 12 year old Stella. She was a Australian Shephard/Chow Chow Mix/Golden Mix. She was the sweetest dog I have ever had I dont think I saw the dog grown once. And Im saying that because I know Chow's often get a bad name and I may not have even considered getting her had I known she had Chow in her. Im sure glad we adopted her though.

Her battle started about 1.5 months ago threw up lots of bile didnt look anything like what a dog with a upset stomach throws up. Tried feeding her rice after that that came up literally seconds later. So off to the vet, they did a xray and saw a spot on the xray where her stomach went to intestine. While the stop wasnt dismissed we tried something to stop her from throwing up that day. It worked she was back to herself and eating normal but about a week and half later throwing up again. Back to the vet had a xray with Barium done. The spot was a lot more evident this time, but Stella also had a fever this time and high white blood cell count. Had a ultrasound done where they confirmed a tumor in that location about 1.5cm by 1.5cm ( I think not diggin up paperwork right now).

Put her on a bland diet at that point. 1 3/4 cups brown rice8 oz chickenfish oilground up egg shellssometimes some other protein sourcepumpkin/green beanspepcid

I usually split this over 4 feedings during the day when she ate large quantities or drank large quantities. Things went south.

She did well for a couple weeks on this but I could see her slowing down basically all she would do was get up, eat, go to the bathroom and go for a walk. I often would see her acting strangely outside pacing our fence just starring. It was sad to watch. I think she had a low grade fever constantly the last couple weeks and her hind legs just would no longer cooperate.

We opted to not have any further testing done I struggle with that decision everyday because it was not a money issue. I just struggled with her recovery if she had surgery and having her last days trying to recover. We did give her piroxicam towards the end.

We had her put to sleep this past Monday she had stopped eating although I do feel I probably could have hand fed her. But when she was struggling to keep water down after a walk where she constantly tripped we made the decision to have her euthanized. I could not believe how fast she deteriorated although I think she was masking a lot of her pain.

Sorry for my ramblings I just wanted to say what a wonderful dog our Chow Chow mix was. Hope my image posted ok I had to resize it.

I am so sorry for your loss and all you have been through. Please don't second guess your actions. I know how hard it is to let go. We lost our Loki (pure chow) just a few months ago. He, too, was 12. We went through similar circumstances.... in the end we had to do what was best for Loki and that was to let him go and be at peace.A day doesn't go by that he isn't missed. We have since adopted another rescue. He is no "Loki" but we love him dearly. I think in every dog owners lifetime there is that one special dog that is irreplaceable. Take comfort in the great life you provided for him

Thanks for the nice comments. The last few days have been a little better. Ive still lost it a few times but I have tried hard to focus on the good times and not the last days. Sorry for your losses. Stomach cancer I would think would be one of the more miserable things when the one thing you want to do the most ( eat ) becomes the most upsetting to your system.